


Rascals and Weasels

by flyingoverthehorizon



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Akuma no Mi | Devil Fruit, Implied Relationships, M/M, One Piece Universe, Orphans, Pirates, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 14:04:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20529251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingoverthehorizon/pseuds/flyingoverthehorizon
Summary: Prompt M29Jongin and Sehun are two hungry street rats. Enter a pirate and a chance to steal some food that leads to unexpected powers and maybe a chance at a new life.





	Rascals and Weasels

**Author's Note:**

> When I saw this prompt I knew I *needed* it. Thank you so much to the prompter!!! A quick search on AO3 told me that there is just one (!!!) other exo-OP crossover and I am shocked! why???! I am here to remedy that!
> 
> I struggled somewhat with deciding on how to spell certain things due to there being different translations. In the end I chose to go with the official english names listed on One Piece Wiki (in the case of Loguetown/Roguetown both were listed so I went with Roguetown).
> 
> It is fully possible that some of the powers/people in this story contradicts canon One Piece since I am not fully up to date with the manga, and far from up to date with the anime. So just take it as it is. It also has very little ties to the manga/anime, it is just set in the same world.
> 
> disclaimer: this fic is unbetaed 
> 
> I also wanna direct a warm thank you to the mods for being so kind when life got a little in the way <3
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it~

The sky is clear and against the blue backdrop seagulls can be seen circling the harbour and seaside areas of the city. 

The bay area marketplace is bustling with activity. Fresh fish is being sold, baked goods are put on display and all the trinkets you could imagine are to be found. Vendors are shouting to get the attention of possible customers, “Caught this very morning. You won’t find anything fresher than this!”, and people are shopping ingredients for tonight’s dinner. 

Within the crowd two young men are walking around and looking at the food on display. On a regular day they would try and pickpocket someone or maybe nab a bread from the baker over there. They don’t dare to risk it today though. The marketplace is swarming with Marines.

The young men have been pick-pocketing long enough to probably get away with it, but since they are no longer little boys that will just get yelled at, but rather lanky 15-year-olds, the Marines would not go too easy on them if they got caught. 

Finding a job is hard when they have no one to vouch for them. Sometimes they are still asked to be errand boys but it seems they largely have outgrown that too.

To add insult to injury, they have been kicked out of the orphanage where they lived until they turned 15. 

Needless to say, things have been a bit rough lately, and it doesn’t help that the city is swarming with Marines. 

“Do you think there is a big shot pirate in town?” Sehun asks when they are sitting on some empty barrels outside a tavern on one side of the marketplace. 

“It has to be. I can’t imagine there being this many Marines if not,” Jongin replies. “But it’s not a good thing for us. The Marines are supposed to be  _ for _ the people but they are just making things harder.”

Sehun nods silently. “I’m bored. Let’s go have a look at the pirate’s ship. It has to be pretty impressive.”

When they get to the harbour it is not just one but  _ several _ pirate ships anchored. 

“Wow,” Sehun gasps.

~

Aboard the main ship, The Ocean Ferret.

“Okay, crew, I know you are a rowdy bunch but try to not cause too much trouble. The Navy is here but they will not attack us unprovoked. Try to keep it that way.”

An affirmative “Aye” is heard from the crowd. 

“Good. Now, go and have fun!”

Loud whoops sounds as the crew disperse and start to leave the ship. 

The Blue Weasel sits down in her big chair and swivels it around to face the sea. She sighs in content. They have had a couple intense months. Her crew deserves some time off duty in a calm city on a relatively unassuming island in East Blue. 

~

It is around lunch time and they still have not eaten anything today. Jongin’s stomach rumbles. 

“Are we desperate enough to try and steal something from one of the ships?” Sehun asks, only half joking. 

“Maybe,” Jongin replies. “The Marines won’t come after us if we do, at least,” he reasons.

“We just have to go unnoticed by the pirates and we should be all good.”

They walk down the docks on the lookout for a ship that could be suitable. The huge main ship of the pirate fleet towers over them with its Jolly Rogers snapping in the wind. The emblem of the pirate crew is one that neither Sehun nor Jongin recognize, but that doesn’t mean anything. They have both grown up on this island and know very little of the world beyond it. The skull looks intimidating, though, with its sharp fangs and and angry expression. It is a regular skull but stylized to resemble a predator of sorts with sharp fangs, angry eyes and ears turned away in a threatening expression. The only thing remotely cute about it are the whiskers and the sky blue color. Even the long but short-legged animal that occupies the spot of one of the crossed bones behind it looks a bit menacing. 

There are seven ships in total. Only the main ship is huge. The rest are about half the size, with two of them being even smaller and docked the furthest away from the main ship. 

Jongin nods towards one of them. "They look unguarded."

Sehun hums in agreement.

They sneak closer, trying to remain inconspicuous. Once they get close to the boarding plank they hide to make up some sort of a plan. 

"We take as much as we can carry and then we get the hell out of there." 

Jongin nods in agreement. "Hopefully we can find a bag or a rucksack or something."

Sehun nods back. "And then we join the dock crowd pretending like we just got the stuff from the market."

"We should split up and meet up on the stable loft in half an hour," Jongin adds.

They walk on-board quickly and silently. Jongin gestures towards the stairs leading below deck. Storage has to be found there somewhere. Even land rats such as themselves know that it is preferred to store stuff away from the deck. Less exposure to intense weather and lowered risks of being flushed overboard in a storm. 

As if by an extreme stroke of luck they stumble upon a kitchen as they get below deck, and in a corner they find a food storage, big as a small room.

“Woah, what are the odds?” Jongin whispers.

There are many different kinds of meat hanging from the ceiling, salted fish and potatoes stuffed in barrels and the shelves are stocked full of fruits, vegetables, herbs and bread. 

Sehun takes a neatly folded burlap sack from a pile next to the door. “Quickly, let’s fill it with as much as we could carry.”

Jongin grabs one of his own and they start stuffing it with food, mainly stuff that would last a while, but they also take one large chunk of fresh meat. They can probably cook it over an open fire tonight.

Just as they are about to leave Sehun spots a locked chest stuffed away in a far corner. “Isn’t this just our luck! They even have gold here!” he giggles as he takes out his lock-picking set. It only takes him a few seconds before the lid swings open and reveals the content.

“More fruit?” Sehun is disappointed. Money is greatly needed and would last long after they run out of food. 

“Come on, just take them so we can leave,” Jongin urges. 

It is child’s play getting off the ship and mixing in with the crowd. No one even looks at them funnily. Jongin feels like laughing out loud from relief. Apart from the disappointment with the fruit in the chest things had exceeded their expectations by miles.

They meet up at the loft to check their loot. They got four loaves of bread, five pieces of smoked meat, one piece of fresh meat, a dozen or so potatoes, a bunch of miscellaneous vegetables and five fruits, two of which were the odd ones found in the chest.

"We will have to eat the fruits soon, they won't last," Sehun reasons.

They eat some of the smoked meat, they deserve to celebrate after their little adventure, and have some fruit for dessert. They decide to go for the two strange fruits they found in the locked chest.

“They must be delicious, why else would someone lock them in a box?” Jongin says as he slices open the big, orange looking one. Sehun goes for the other one, akin to a pineapple, but purple. Both fruits are covered in spiral patterns.

They each take a piece of their fruit and hold it up. “Cheers!”

Jongin’s expression turns sour almost immediately after the first bite. “Wow, this is awful!”

Sehun chews for a little longer before starting to cough. “Urk, what is wrong with this aftertaste?”

Neither of them are keen on finishing the fruits, but throwing food away when it rarely is readily available would be a sin, so they swallow every bite with mouthfuls of water. 

“At least we are properly fed now.”

Jongin nods in agreement. “Who keeps disgusting fruit in a locked chest, though?” Realization seems to strike him. “What if they had forgotten about the fruit and it had gotten bad?”

They stare at each other for a moment. 

“I really don’t want food poisoning,” Sehun whispers, as if keeping his voice down would somehow lessen the risk of getting sick.

“Neither do I,” Jongin responds and hugs his stomach. “I really hope I am making it up but I am starting to feel a little funny.”

Sehun flops down on his back. “I’m gonna try and sleep it off. I need a nap anyway.”

Jongin nods and lays down next to Sehun, folding one arm under his head to use as a pillow and draping the other one over Sehun. 

~

“Cap’n! Pardon me, Cap’n!” 

An errand boy comes running, shouting for her, and Blue Weasel lazily swivels her chair around to look at the boy causing a ruckus. 

“What is it, boy?”

“I’m so sorry, ma’am, but…”

“Don’t ‘ma’am’ me. I’m your captain,and you should address me as such.” 

The boy shivers under her gaze. “Yes, of course. Pardon me... Captain!”

“Now, what is it that’s so important you needed to come running and shouting for?”

“Uh… well, you see, Captain. I’m one of the kitchen boys and, well, the cooks went into town, so no one was guarding the kitchen boat, so someone went aboard it and stole food, and…”

Blue Weasel interrupts him. “Why do I need to know this? Surely they can’t have gotten away with much. I was under the impression that the kitchen ship is well stocked with more food than any one man could ever carry. Why don’t you talk to the treasurer instead? He’s the one in charge of our finances and I trust him well enough to have him deal with any thieving clean up.”

The boy is still shaking. “Well, Captain, it seems there was some kind of mix up after our last raid.”

This got Blue Weasel to start to listen properly. “What do you mean with ‘mix up’? Come on now, spit it out!”

“Uh, Captain, I’m terribly sorry, but it seems that the Devil Fruits we acquired somehow ended up on the kitchen boat and…”

“THEY WHAT NOW?!” Blue Weasel roars and stands up with so much force that the poor kitchen boy falls backwards. “Spit it out!” she hisses at him.

“The cooks found the empty chest,” he squeaks. “And sent me to tell you what happened.”

“I’ll rip whoever put the Devil Fruits on the kitchen ship to pieces!” Blue Weasel growls as she starts pacing the deck. “And the cooks will have to explain themselves. Thoroughly!” She turns to the kitchen boy, who is still sitting on the deck where he had fallen. “Let the cooks know that I will have to have a serious talk with them once I get those Devil Fruits back.” She growls and shows her fangs for emphasis. The boy scrambles to his feet and runs off to relay the message. 

Blue Weasel is fuming. This was supposed to be a time for relaxation. Now they will have to hunt for the thief. 

Damn it! Most of her crew is out celebrating in the city. It will take hours to get a hold of everyone and organize a search-and-punish party.

She clenches her fist so hard that her claw-like nails digs into the palm of her hand. She curses loudly and creatively.

~

When Jongin wakes up his stomach feels normal. He exhales in relief. No food poisoning. 

He reaches out to nudge Sehun who is still sound asleep. 

“You feeling okay?”

Sehun stirs. “Huh...? Oh… I’m feeling okay, I think.”

“Wanna go out and find something fun to do?”

Sehun agrees and soon they are strolling down to the beach. 

“I kinda want to take a swim,” Sehun laughs.

They pull off their boots and toss their shirts in the sand. They run down to the shoreline and Jongin splashes Sehun with water.

“Oh, no, you didn’t!” Sehun shouts and starts to chase Jongin. Jongin heads out into deeper waters but when it reaches his knees he wobbles and almost falls. Sehun catches up to him. 

“Are you okay?” he asks, worried. 

Jongin is steadying himself with his hands on his thighs. “Yes, I just feel a bit weak,” he replied quietly.

Sehun also feels weird, like all his energy has been drained.

“Let’s go sit down in the sand instead.” He drags Jongin with him to where they dropped their shirts and boots. After a few minutes they feel better.

“It really must have been something funky with that fruit. I’ve felt kinda odd ever since we ate it.” Jongin flops down on his back, gazing up at the clouds. “Can we go cloud gazing on the hill south of town instead? I wanna have nothing that blocks the view.”

Sehun has no reason to object. They pull on their shirts and boots and head in the direction of the hill. The city is the biggest on the island and even if the boys are close to the southern edge it still takes them twenty minutes to get out of the city. Someone had once called it “the last decent city before the Grand Line” due to its proximity to the infamous Roguetown. A lot of ships pass by this port as they are heading towards the Grand Line. Due to Roguetown’s rowdy reputation some prefer to not make a long stop there, whether it is because they are a small pirate crew or simply not pirates. 

Despite the town’s status as friendly and orderly, it only applies to those who have money to pay with. Sehun and Jongin are well aware of how rough it can be to grow up without much resources at all. 

Despite all this, it is a pretty city. From up the hill Sehun finds it almost cute, and if he didn’t know better, he’d even call it inviting. 

When they get to the top of the hill Jongin throws himself down on the green grass and stretches his arms as far above his head as he can reach. 

“Aaaaahhh, this is heaven.” 

Sehun sits down next to him. He is about to lie down too but felt an overwhelming urge to tickle Jongin. Seeing him stretched out like that is  _ very _ inviting. 

Sehun tickles Jongin’s side. 

Jongin shrieks.

And then the shriek turns into a roar.

Jongin has fangs.

Sehun scrambles away from Jongin in sheer panic.

Jongin looks frightened too, even if he doesn’t quite look like himself. 

“Sehun..? Wha-... I…” Jongin is at loss for words. Sehun looks as if he has had the scare of his life. Jongin’s fingers have long claws and his mouth feels odd. 

Sehun collects himself enough to say something. “What happened to you?”

Jongin is still staring at his hands. He still can’t formulate a full sentence. “What…? How…? But…”

And then Sehun says something that makes it click in Jongin’s head. 

“Jongin, you have bear ears.”

Jongin finally tears his eyes of his hands and looks at Sehun. “It can’t be. No, it would never happen to us.” 

“What, Jongin? What would never happen to us?” Sehun still looks confused and scared. 

Jongin starts to explain his suspicion. “I think I know what those odd fruits could have been.” He pauses and swallows. “Devil Fruits.”

It takes a moment for Sehun to register. “Wait, what?! Are you sure? What are the chances that we would even see a Devil Fruit in our entire lives? Let alone eat them?” 

“What else can it have been? Strange fruits, and a few hours after eating them I seem to have turned into a bear human or something. I don’t see any other explanation.”

“But they are so rare! I don’t even know if they exist for real! And if they do, then they must sell for mind-blowing amounts of money! Who would store them in a food storage?”

“I don’t know, Sehun, but do you have a better explanation?” Jongin sighs, exasperated. “You know, they say that Devil Fruit powers prevent you from swimming in the ocean. I’m just throwing it out there, but you know how strange we felt down by the beach earlier.”

Sehun shakes his head, still not believing it. “It doesn’t sound real…” He throws his hands out. “And what if it is? What if we’ve really eaten Devil Fruits and gotten powers? What now?”

Jongin is quiet. “I don’t know… I need to figure out how to turn human again, and we need to know what powers you have. I think that is the best way to know if we have gotten the powers of Devil Fruits.”

“But how do we do that?”

Jongin has no good answer.

~

Blue Weasel is glaring daggers at anyone that hasn’t shut up yet. They have been able to get most of the crew back to the ships, and that is good enough for now. She is itching to get the chase going. Every minute of not having her Devil Fruits (because they belonged to her ever since she took them during their last raid) increases the risk of her never getting them back. And she is not gonna have that.

She starts barking out orders to her crew. Those who still aren’t quiet only have themselves to blame if they missed the instructions. She will find out if anyone messes up afterwards and she will not be merciful. 

She finishes with some words of warning. “Be careful around Marines. This should go without saying but they might not know that we are hunting criminals. If they think we are attacking citizens they will have reason to attack us and they will probably contact nearby naval bases.”

She glares some more to make sure everyone understands the seriousness in the situation. 

“As you know, we are a big enough crew that we will be left alone here in the East Blue as long as we behave. Don’t give them reason to think we won’t.”

She dismisses her crew and watches them scurry off in small teams, ready to not leave any stone unturned in the pursuit of the lost Devil Fruits. 

Now she only has to wait until someone comes back to report where the thief is hiding or until someone brings them to her. 

She is restless and can’t just sit around and wait. She takes the time to sharpen her claws with a file and then proceeds to polish her fighting gloves and boots.

Her gloves are covered in sharp, claw-like blades sitting in rows on top of the fingers and along the backside of her hand. Her boots are pointed with a sharp steel tip and have spikes along the sides. 

She is a fighter and is especially good at close combat. She finds guns to be for cowards. If you aren’t prepared to deal the damage personally you shouldn’t be allowed a weapon, she believes, and she is more than ready to make the thief pay full price for her stolen Devil Fruits.

~

Somehow Jongin manages to get back to full human form. He is not completely sure how it happened but he felt himself do  _ something _ . 

Jongin has decided to believe that they ate actual Devil Fruits. It is the only explanation that makes sense to him at the moment. He knows Sehun is still skeptic, though. Speaking of Sehun, they still haven’t figured out what he can do. That is the main reason why Sehun is not convinced of Jongin’s theory. 

Jongin had tried to coax Sehun into discovering his ability, but to no avail. “Do you feel anything that is different from before?” 

“No, nothing that I can put my finger on.”

“Maybe you should think of it as a muscle that you have to figure out how to flex?” Jongin suggested.

Sehun had rolled his eyes. “How am I supposed to flex a muscle that I don’t know what it feels like to use? I don’t even know what it is supposed to do, neither where I am supposed to feel it.” Sehun had replied a little snarkily. 

Once Jongin had turned back to normal they soon tired of trying to figure Sehun’s likely abilities out. 

They walk back into town and to the loft over the stable which is their residence for the time being. They are permitted to stay there given that they take care of the early morning feeding of the horses. The owner of the stable is no morning person but the animals need their breakfast. In the end it works out well enough for Sehun and Jongin. Not that they have much of a choice given their circumstances.

As they walk up the narrow staircase to the loft, Sehun’s left hand resting on the handrail feels strange. A surge of dizziness comes over him and he grips the thin metal bar tightly. The bar gives way to his grip as if it is soft putty and Sehun would have stumbled if he hadn’t steadied himself with his other hand against the wooden wall on his right. 

He stands completely still just staring at where his left hand had gripped the handrail.

There are deep indentations after a hand gripping around it. It looks like a piece of clay that has been squeezed in a hand. 

But metal is not supposed to look like that.

“How…?” he whispers. 

Jongin, who had been walking ahead of him and who is almost at the top of the staircase looks back on him. He gets a concerned look on his face when he sees Sehun’s face. 

“Is everything…” he starts before he sees the metal handrail and the indentation.

“What happened?” he asks instead. 

“I-I don’t know… I was just trying to steady myself but the handrail just gave way. It was as if it was no longer fully solid.” Sehun has a look of complete confusion on his face.

Now Jongin is convinced that they have eaten Devil Fruits and that they have developed superhuman abilities. But Sehun’s well-being comes first, and making sure that he is okay and not too shaken is first priority.

Some might say that being an orphaned street urchin makes you only trust yourself because it is a live-or-die situation where you only can rely on yourself. In Jongin’s experience it was easier not being alone. Sometimes food becomes a bigger issue because they are two people having to share everything they get their hands on, but everything else is easier when you aren’t alone and have someone to rely on. Always having someone watching your back. 

After many years only having each other they are inseparable. 

They still argue and fight occasionally, that is inevitable, but they trust each other in ways that they have never trusted anyone else. That means that the other person’s well-being takes precedence in a situation like this. It is also why Jongin felt his heart clench in panic when Sehun got scared of him earlier.

Jongin helps Sehun up the stairs and make him sit down on a bale of hay. He looks lost and confused. 

“What is going on? Why are things like this happening? I feel weird, Jongin. I don’t like this.” 

Jongin kneels in front of him. “Hey, Sehun. Look at me. We’ll figure this out. We’ve survived this far. We won’t let something like this stop us.” He looks Sehun straight in the eyes. “We’re stronger than this!”

Sehun nods. “It’s just that everything has been against us all the time and I don’t know how much longer I can take it.”

“We can do it, together! Don’t give up yet. I couldn’t have made it this far without you and I need you to keep going.”

He gently grabs Sehun’s shoulders. “Sehun, look at me. We will make the best of this and we will keep fighting!”

Sehun sniffles but breathes in deeply. After exhaling he looks more okay. 

“At least we have some nice food.” He chuckles weakly. 

“That’s the spirit!” Jongin pats Sehun on the head and stands up. “So, do you want ham or bread?”

~

“Captain! We got a lead on the thief!” One of her men comes hurrying over the deck. 

“Well, spit it out then,” she snaps impatiently.

“It seems one of the dock workers saw two youngsters out on the dock where the kitchen ship is. They looked rather scruffy so he assumed they were with us but we don’t have any errand boys with the description he provided.”

“So we’re looking for a couple rascals!” Blue Ferret licked her teeth. “That makes it easier. I’m sure this port city is not too fond of its street urchins.”

She gets up from her chair. “What are you waiting for? Let’s get the chase going!”

“We already have, Captain. I just came here to let you know how it was all going.”

“Good! I knew I could trust my crew on matters such as these.”

~

After they have eaten they try to figure out what Sehun can do. Jongin’s first guess is that he can turn things into clay but no matter how much Sehun squeezes and pulls on a burlap sack he can’t make anything happen. 

“What if it has to be something specific for me to do it?”

“Aha!” Jongin exclaims and runs to get a metal bucket. “Try this!”

Sehun holds the bucket. 

Nothing happens. 

But then his fingers start tingling. 

He pushes his hands together and the bucket bends inwards as if it was made out of cloth and not metal.

“Wow…” Sehun is speechless.

“Woohoo! We figured it out!” Jongin is bouncing from excitement. 

Sehun, who seems to have recovered from his shock, has a wicked glint in his eyes. 

“Let’s go out and test this out!”

~

They walk down the street and Sehun itches to try his ability on everything metal around him, but tries to not be too inconspicuous. He grazes his hand along a metal windowsill, leaving a long indentation. He leans on a rainpipe making it shift slightly. He twists the handle on a bike. He and Jongin laughs after every single prank. No one will know it was them. 

After a while Jongin really want to test his powers out too, but doing it in the city isn’t a good idea. What if someone alerted the authorities of a wild bear? 

They head towards the woods to the East of the city.

On the way there Jongin notices that they are being followed. 

He signals to Sehun that they are being shadowed. 

Sehun keeps walking as if nothing was amiss but he is hyper aware of his surroundings. “How many?” 

“I only count three,” Jongin replies. “Do you think it is someone from the ship? Do they know that we stole food?” 

When the realization hits he almost stumbles. How could he have been so stupid?

“We really shouldn’t be out and about. If they know that we took their Devil Fruits they’ll kill us!” he whispers to Sehun. 

Sehun’s face falls. “Oh shit, we are in really big trouble…” He swallows. “Even if those guys aren’t from the ship we are in danger as soon as they figure out that the Devil Fruits are gone.”

“Worst case scenario, the people stalking us are out to kill us. We should try and shake them off,” Jongin reasons.

“Agreed. Let’s start running once we turn that corner. We know this city’s every backstreet. We should be able to get away.”

They round the corner and then take off down the street. 

“Towards the plaza,” Sehun shouts. 

A few seconds later their followers round the corner and sees them running. They start running in pursuit. 

Just before reaching the plaza’s west gate Sehun throws a glance at Jongin and says, “See you at the eastern gate in five?” 

Jongin nods in agreement. 

They split up and starts zigzagging between people and stalls.

Once Jongin gets to the other side he is huffing. He doesn’t want to stop but he can’t see Sehun anywhere. He stops running but is on high alert in case he needs to start sprinting again. 

Suddenly he spots Sehun being cornered by two of the pirates by the wall three stalls away from the eastern gate. Jongin sees fear in Sehun’s eyes but his posture is determined. 

Jongin rushes to his aid. The pirates have weapons. This could go very wrong. 

One of the pirates, a tall woman with shoulder length white hair, lashes out with a short blade. It seems they are not interested in talking. 

Sehun manages to dodge and grabs after the woman’s hand. If he only could get a hold of the blade maybe he can mold it. He is not quick enough and gets slashed along the forearm. He screams out in pain. She didn’t cut deep but it hurts. 

A roar to his right surprises him, and his attackers too. People are screaming and running out of the way of a bear charging towards them. 

When the bear skids to a stop in front of Sehun and growls threateningly towards the two pirates Sehun realizes that it is Jongin in full bear form. 

“Jongin, let’s get out of here!” Sehun scrambles to his feet and takes off, throwing a glance over his shoulder to check that Jongin is following him. With a last menacing growl Jongin turns around to run away. He quickly catches up with Sehun.

“Wow, Jongin, you are fast,” Sehun pants. 

“Hop on, I’ll carry you. I am faster than you right now.” Jongin slows to a trot to give Sehun a chance to get on his back.

Once Sehun is on Jongin’s back Jongin speeds up. Hopefully they will get to the woods soon and hide there.

~

Blue Weasel is itching to let the thieving rascals pay for stealing her Devil Fruits (rightfully acquired through pirating). 

“Any news on where they could be?” she asks her second in command. 

“Nothing yet.” She points to a man running towards them. “But that is Benji the Basset, and he seems to be in a hurry. Maybe he has some news for us.”

Benji does indeed have some important things to tell them. 

“We didn’t know for sure if it was them but when they started running they confirmed our suspicion. We caught up to them at Prayers’ Plaza. I headed back to let you know, but before I left the plaza I heard a roar. It seems they have eaten the Devil Fruits because one turned into a bear.”

“Those blasted little rats!! How dare they!!?” Blue Ferret is fuming. “I’m gonna kill them!!”

She turns towards Benji. “Take me to them. Now!”

She is thirsting for blood.

~

They are hiding behind a tree trying to catch their breaths. Or rather, Jongin is trying to while Sehun is keeping lookout.

“I can’t see anyone following us. We might be safe.”

Jongin is back to human form and is leaning with his hands on his knees. “I hope we are. I ran as fast as I can and I don’t wanna run into those people again. They were so scary.” He remembers that Sehun got hurt. “How is your arm?” He sounds worried and there is a hint of panic in his voice. 

Sehun releases his grip of his right forearm. His left hand is covered in blood. “I don’t think it is very deep but we need to stop the bleeding somehow. And it has started throbbing now.” He makes a grimace. “It really hurts.”

Jongin takes off his shirt and with a little force rips off one of the sleeves. “Here, let’s use this.”

He helps tie it around Sehun’s arm. “That should do, for now.”

Jongin grabs Sehun’s other hand, despite it being sticky with blood. 

“I don’t wanna see you get hurt like that again, okay?”

Sehun smiles. “I don’t want it either. But if those pirates come after us again I can’t promise anything. I can’t let anything happen to you, you know.”

Jongin presses his forehead against Sehun’s. “Just be more careful. Please.”

“I will,” Sehun whispers.

They stay like that for a moment, enjoying each other’s presence.

“Come on out boys! I know you are there!”

The voice startles them and they break apart.

“Don’t you try and hide! I know you are here. I can smell blood and fear.”

Sehun looks at Jongin. “It must be one of the pirates,” he whispers.

The pirate is still shouting, and she seems to get closer.

“You know, I don’t appreciate having my belongings stolen. Especially not my valuable possessions.”

Sehun’s eyes grow wide. 

“She knows we took her Devil Fruits,” Jongin whispers. “And she is probably the captain.”

At that moment a shape leans around the tree they are hiding behind. 

“I found you~,” the pirate captain singsongs. 

Her hand lashes out as she tries to hit Sehun who is closest to her. 

Her claw-clad glove catches on Sehun’s makeshift bandage. His arm would surely have been slashed if the cloth hadn’t protected him. 

Jongin finds himself turning into a bear and lets out a roar, equal parts threatening and frightened. 

Sehun suffers several slashes to his forearms and hands and Jongin sees blood seeping out of the wounds. For some reason Sehun isn’t backing away and Jongin rushes to his rescue. 

He flings one of his paws, trying to knock the pirate captain over, but she manages to evade and kicks at him while she’s at it. It stings in his side where her boot hit, but his fur seems to have protected him from the worst slashing. 

He positions himself between Sehun and the pirate. Sehun is breathing heavily behind him. Without taking his eyes off the pirate in front of him he huffs at Sehun, “Are you okay? Why didn’t you run?”

“The sharp metal on her gloves is less sharp now. I only had a moment to try and dull them for each slash and I still don’t really know how to use this ability. But she should be less dangerous now.” Sehun feels a little proud that he managed to do something to increase their chances. It is Jongin that has the sheer force that might be able to knock the pirate down and Sehun cannot stand the idea of Jongin getting hurt.

“And you think that is worth cutting up your palms for?” Jongin growls.

“It’s not like we have much to choose from right now,” Sehun snaps back.

“What are you boys chatting about? This is no playground! And I see you have eaten my precious fruits, so now I cannot help but to kill you.” The pirate cackles and licks her sharp teeth. “That is what you get for upsetting the Blue Weasel!”

Jongin decides to charge Blue Weasel, hoping to surprise her, but once again she dodges and tries to get in a hit as she does so. She manages and a jolt of pain shoots up Jongin’s left arm.

He keeps going after her. She keeps dodging. He keeps getting nicked and she hasn’t gotten a scratch so far. He is too slow too keep up with her like this. He’s not used to his bear form yet. 

He changes back to human form and can now see just how many small scratches he has accumulated. 

Suddenly he hears Sehun shout from somewhere behind Blue Weasel. 

“Long nose, long beard, Long John!”

It is one of their secret signals. They used to use it when they were kids and tried to defend themselves against one of the big bullies. It means that the one shouting will try to hit the opponent while the other holds their feet so they cannot move.

With Blue Weasel’s attention on where Sehun’s voice came from Jongin dives for her feet. Her boots are covered in spikes but he tries his best to hold them in a firm grip. 

Sehun appears to Blue Weasel’s left and grabs a hold of her hand. The metal on her gloves moves like clay and Sehun pushes it off her gloves and onto her forearm. It now looks like a poorly shaped bracelet. 

Blue Weasel slashes after him with her right hand but when he dodges she goes after Jongin instead. She slashes at his shoulder and he screams out in pain and lets go of her feet. Meanwhile Sehun has jumped onto Blue Weasel’s back and gotten a hold of both her hands. In a strike of luck he somehow manages to mold the metal on her right glove and her left arm into makeshift handcuffs. 

Jongin is amazed for all of half a second before Blue Weasel headbutts Sehun in the face and Sehun falls to the ground. 

Jongin is enraged and turns into a bear again, this time being successful in knocking Blue Weasel to the ground. 

His sheer weight is holding her down and she manages little more than kicking her feet and making tiny scratches on Jongin’s hind legs. Nothing he can’t stand. 

He is standing over her with his snout bare inches from her face. He bares his teeth growls in her face.

“How dare you hurt him?!”

“I trust my crew to take you out,” Blue Weasel snarls back. “Benji! Sandria! Kill the bear!” 

But from among the trees come no pirates. Instead Marines with rifles come into view. They are aiming at both Jongin and Blue Weasel. “Hold it right there! Don’t move!” they shout.

One of them motions at Jongin. “You, bear, move of her. Slowly!”

Jongin’s heart is beating so fast, yet he moves so, so, so slowly. He doesn’t want to die here. 

He moves a couple meters away from the Blue Weasel and then says “I am gonna change back to human form now, if that is okay?” with more courage than he actually has. 

The Marines pointing their rifles at him aren’t even blinking, so intense is their focus on him in case he does something funny.

Once human again Jongin feels his eyes well up with tears. They start flowing uncontrollably down his cheeks and he cannot stop them. 

“Can I please check on my friend over there. He’s not conscious and I worry he is dead,” he sobs. When the Marines don’t reply he adds, “We’re just two street kids that were attacked.” He is crying harder now and speaking is hard.

One of the Marines grunt and gestures with his rifle towards where Sehun is lying on the ground. 

Jongin scoots over and places Sehun’s head in his lap. He cradles him and sobs uncontrollably.

“Sehun, please wake up.”

Sehun’s eyelids start to flutter as he is coming through. When his eyes are open Jongin lets out a breathy laugh, tears still streaming down his face.

“We’ll be fine Sehun. We won’t die today.”

~

At the Naval office in town.

After some explanations on Jongin’s part the Marines had accepted that he and Sehun weren’t also pirates. 

The officer in command had looked displeased when Jongin had mentioned that they had stolen food, but didn’t comment on it. Jongin would rather have left that detail out but he didn’t know how he would explain how they got their powers otherwise. 

They were being held in a cell, but it was furnished and they had gotten new clothes and their wounds were treated so things weren’t all bad. 

Sehun was resting with his head in Jongin’s lap again. He was feeling better now but had gotten a concussion so they still had to be careful. 

Suddenly the door opened and the officer stepped in.

“I was just in contact with my superior and he has an offer for you. Please keep in mind that this is not something we usually do but this situation is a bit unusual.”

He crossed his arms. “You committed a crime by stealing those Devil Fruits, even if it was a crime against pirates. That lessens the crime a little. You also caused quite a ruckus in at the Prayer’s Plaza and citizens demand that we do something about you. On the other hand, you helped us catch Blue Weasel. We are willing to forget your crimes if you agree to join the Navy. Of course you’d start out as errand boys, but if you show good spirit and dedication you might be able to rise in the ranks. Once again, this is an unusual offer. I’ll let you think it over.” The officer left again. 

Jongin was speechless. 

“Did you catch all that?” Sehun asked. “Because I am sure I just got a whiplash.”

Jongin hummed in response.

“The Marines have never been there for us. But this is also our chance to get away from here,” Sehun reasons. 

“If we accept and we manage to climb the ranks we can always come back and do some good around here,” Jongin replies. “They probably want us for our powers. If we learn how to use them right we could probably go anywhere we want.”

“I think we should do it. We could always quit if it isn’t working out. It has to be better than here at least?”

Jongin nods in agreement. 

\--

After the officer returns and they tell him their decision they are taken to a large room where they are asked to sit. There is a transpondent snail on the table. A voice greets them from it.

“Hello, boys. I am happy to hear that you accepted the offer. I am the woman that will be in charge of making sure you will get proper training. In a few days I’ll come and pick you up and take you to our training facilities. But until then I believe there is someone with you that will give you some information on the Devil Fruits you ate. Commander Razor Tongue, out.”

The voice hangs up. 

“That was fast,” Sehun says quietly. Jongin snickers a little.

The door opens behind them and in comes a flustered looking secretary. He almost drops all his papers before sitting down in front of them. 

“Okay, let’s see. I know I had the notes here somewhere,” he mumbles. “Aha!”

He pulls one of the papers out from the large stack. 

“So, judging by how you described your powers, and what some of the men that captured Blue Weasel told me I think I’ve figured out what fruits you ate.”

“You,” he says pointing at Jongin, “have eaten the Bear-bear fruit, Brown bear model. You said that you only managed the half animal form once. That will probably get easier with practice. I don’t think you have to worry too much about the blood thirst that can come with some zoan fruits because brown bears are omnivores. If you do struggle with it, though, please don’t hesitate to contact your superiors.”

“And you.” This time he directs his gaze towards Sehun. “You probably have the Bend-bend fruit. It is a paramecia kind that allows you to manipulate the shape of any metal. I’m guessing that you’ve only used your hands so far?”

Sehun nods.

“According to what we know of this fruit, you should be able to develop the ability to do it with any part of your body. With training you should be able to increase the speed of the metal manipulation as well. At its peak, this power is believed to be able to melt a sword right before it strikes.”

He looks at them for a moment, before gathering up his papers. “Those powers of yours are really something. I’m glad you chose to use them for good. Let me know if you discover something new about them. We want to know as much about these powers as possible in order to fully utilize your strength.”

When they are alone again Sehun and Jongin look at each other and start to laugh.

“When I woke up the today I had no idea that this would happen,” Jongin giggles.

“What a wild day we’ve had.”

“I’m glad things are looking up now.”

“I’m glad things are looking up for us  _ both _ ,” Sehun emphasizes. He looks serious and takes Jongin’s hand. 

“Let’s make the world better. Together.”

Jongin laces their fingers together. 

“Together.”

**Author's Note:**

> (in case anyone wondered, brown bears are kinda like grizzly bears, but the european version. they do count like different species tho.)
> 
> thank you for reading! I had a lot of fun with this one and I really would love to know what you thought! after reveals I will put my twitter account here in case you wanna come talk with me directly ^-^ Edit: here is my [twitter](https://twitter.com/flyingothorizon)


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